


Crash landing in Lima

by Haely_Potter



Series: Glee/Avengers series [1]
Category: Glee, Thor (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-18
Updated: 2013-01-18
Packaged: 2017-11-25 22:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/643727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haely_Potter/pseuds/Haely_Potter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Thor hadn't landed in New Mexico? What if Thor had landed in Lima, Ohio? And been found by a fashionable but technologically savvy countertenor? How would Thor learn humility?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own either Glee or Thor

When a tornado warning comes out of nowhere, Kurt does what everyone else in the class does. They don’t orderly evacuate to the basement of the school like they’ve been taught. Then again, neither do they rush to the windows to see the tornado.

No, they panic.

The screaming is echoed by other classes throughout the school so loudly that they don’t even hear the tornado warning shut down for a good minute. When they notice this, all the students are glancing at each other, silently asking: what just happened? The teacher peeks over his desk fearfully.

“Is it over?” his whisper sounds in the class room.

Kurt turns to the window for the first time since the tornado warning went off. “I think so Mr. Willis. It’s safe to come out,” he bit sarcastically, recovering more quickly that his class mates. Then again, he also recovered from slushies and dumpster dives more quickly than anyone else he knew.

He glanced at the clock on the wall behind Mr. Willis’ desk. It would ring in thirty seconds. He started to pack his things, prompting some of his classmates to do the same. Mr. Willis looked at them incredulously and jumped when the bell rang. “N-no homework for tomorrow. Remember to study for the test next week.”

Chatter was starting to return to the students and exclaims of “I can’t believe it!” and “Oh my God, what was that?” and “If this was a joke, I’m going to boil the culprit’s balls in boiling oil… while they’re still attached!” The last one came from a particularly vicious Cheerio, Emily Shirley, who looked like a particularly innocent angel.  
Making his way to his locker, a new apprehension started to settle within Kurt. He lived on the edge of Lima with his dad, barely within the city limits, and the tornado warning system was limited to the city limits. If the warning had been so short, it was logical to believe it had grazed Lima somewhere round the edges… He just hoped his dad was okay. He’d had a day off… and knowing his dad, hadn’t moved anywhere from home.

Thanking God he didn’t believe in that he didn’t have Glee or Cheerios that afternoon, Kurt made his way through the parking lot to his baby (one of the things he could be proud of without being called a fag). Waving goodbye to Mercedes who looked slightly pale, like the rest of the students, he slid into his car and started the annoying five-mile-ride home. Normally he would take any other road but today he was in a hurry and took the 75. 75 was always busy, running from southern Florida all the way up to Canada, Kurt had checked. It went through Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan and the road continued on in Canada though Kurt never bothered to know more. Expect that 75 went through Atlanta where he wanted to visit one day.

The ride had never felt as long as it did that day but when he drove up the driveway he felt like he could breathe again: the house was at least still there.

“Dad?” he called as he shut the door behind him, letting his book bag fall to the floor. “Dad? You here?”

“Kiddo?” answered a voice from the basement where Burt kept his inventions and prototypes.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Kurt went down the stairs. “Everything’s fine dad… there was just a scare with a tornado today not fifteen minutes ago. Since the alarm was so brief I feared something had happened here.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” shrugged Burt as he looked up from the motor he was building. “Then again, I’ve been blasting Mellencamp since lunch.”

“And M.A.I. didn’t say anything?” inquired Kurt with an arched eyebrow.

“I turned the blasted thing off,” grunted Burt as he once again concentrated on the motor in front of him.

Kurt sighed but smiled. Burt didn’t know what to think of the newest member of their household, M.A.I. (My Artificial Intelligence), which Kurt had programmed from scratch. It was a lot like Tony Stark’s J.A.R.V.I.S. from what Kurt had heard, except that it wasn’t divided between their houses (since they only had one, unlike Tony Stark who had freaking towers everywhere). Kurt was particularly proud of it and continuously tuned it.

“Well, then I better go turn it back on so it can fuss over the tornado warning. Do you want something to eat?” asked Kurt over his shoulder as he walked the stairs.

“No thanks, I’m fine for a while longer,” Burt answered absentmindedly and reached for a screwdriver.

Kurt barely kept from rolling his eyes. Whenever his dad said he was fine for a while longer, he was coming up with something that could revolutionize the humanity’s current culture, if only he bothered to show someone what he’d come up with. Their attic was full of stuff that looked like it was from a futuristic sci-fi movie such as hover boards, help-robots (with a meager A.I., nothing compared to M.A.I.), answering key chains and laser guns. Kurt’s inventions were all stored on his massive storage computer and his intranet. He left the physical inventing for his dad and concentrated on software and other abstract things. It was hard being a couple of genius inventors in the middle-of-nowhere, Ohio and not letting anyone know unless they wanted the same kind of life like Tony Stark. Burt was content to run his auto shop and Kurt’s dreams were in performing, even if he’d continue inventing in his leisure.

“My Artificial Intelligence, online, mu oh-two, delta two-six, upsilon two-oh-ten,” Kurt droned as he went to the kitchen, awakening M.A.I. He started to prepare a light snack (apple slices and baby carrots along with orange juice (No added Sugar! proclaimed the carton)) as Mai complained about Burt turning it off. Apparently it was also going through what had happened during it’s brief offline.

“Master Kurt, there is an injured man on your property, in the field behind the woods. He appeared there during the storm,” Mai informed Kurt as he’d just sat down to eat.

“Was he injured in the storm?” asked Kurt.

“I don’t know Master Kurt. There is no sign of the man anywhere before the storm.”

Swallowing, Kurt replied: “I’ll go take a look. Don’t inform where I am unless he asks and even then don’t mention the man.”

“Understood Master Kurt.”

“Could you have D.D. and Med.A.I. (Duty Droid and Medical Artificial Intelligence) on call when I come back? If the man really is injured, Med.A.I. should be ready to treat him and if he’s not, D.D. will be needed to make some food for him. A guest room should also be aired for our mystery man,” Kurt drank the rest of his juice and put the dishes to the dishwasher. He grabbed his keys and summoned his own hover board and the closest guest hover board. Jumping on, Kurt directed them out of the door and through the woods.

The field had been in his dad’s family for a couple of centuries, since moving to America, really. Not that it had really been sowed since before the Second World War. That was when the Hummels became ingenious engineers. That was the reason Kurt’s great-grandfather hadn’t served on the front lines of the War, because he’d been doing some engineering ‘back home’. He’d also met Captain America and had spoken of the man with great fondness according to the stories Kurt’s grandpa had told him before dying of heart failure at the age of eighty seven four years ago. Then, when great-grandpa had been sent to the front lines, he’d been killed within the fortnight… after fixing a truck that had gotten ten injured soldiers to safety. Kurt’s grandpa had been thirteen at the time.

Great-grandpa and grandpa had both kept a small fruit tree orchard in one corner of the field, most of the time for relaxation but sometimes the fruits were used as test subjects… and not a word more about that. Anyway, the orchard was one of Kurt’s favorite places on the property as it reminded him of his grandpa, and now… it was half destroyed.

Hovering closer, Kurt caught sight of something gold. Or, well, what would have been golden had it not been mostly gray with dirt. It was hair. Long, golden hair of a big, bronze skinned man who was laying face first in dirt. He was dressed in some kind of tunic and breeches and had a pair of odd, medieval boots. Some kind of giant hammer was lodged in a stone not twenty feet of the man.

Ignoring the hammer for the moment, Kurt rushed to the man’s side. “Ohkay, don’t be dead, we don’t need the police or worse, feds, swarming our home, trying to solve a murder…” he muttered as he knelt by the man, not paying attention to his pants. Checking for the pulse, Kurt closed his eyes in relief when he found it. Using what little muscle he’d gained from Cheerios, he turned the man over and was rewarded by fluttering eyes. The man opened them for a few seconds, revealing breathtaking baby blue eyes, before seemingly succumbing to unconsciousness again. “Hey, don’t go to sleep,” Kurt snapped and lightly slapped the man’s face. “You could have concussion for all we know. You don’t want to fall into a coma because I’m not equipped to deal with it and then I’ll have to take you to the hospital.” The eyes opened again. “There’s a good boy, now stay awake.”

Kurt got the man to the hover board with a little help from the man himself and continued talking as it seemed to help the man stay conscious. Hastening the journey, Kurt alternated between praising the man for staying awake and snapping at him when he closed his eyes for longer than a second. Remotely opening the backdoors he flew them in, up the stairs and to the closest guest room where D.D. and Med.A.I. were waiting. Getting off his hover board, Kurt barked orders to the droids and rolled the man off the guest hover board to the king sized bed. Medai checked for the concussion and when it found no sign of it, Kurt smiled. “It’s okay big guy, it’s safe to sleep now. We’ll take care of you.”

The man gave a slight, nearly unnoticeable nod and finally let himself go, relaxing the instant his eyes were shut. Kurt left Medai to tend to the man’s numerous injuries and Dee-Dee to clean up the man. He, on the other hand, went back to the field to assess the damage and inspect the hammer. Just in case he took his a headset with him so that Mai could inform him if the man woke up again.

‘*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’

The landing site, as that was what it was, was actually in a better shape than Kurt had expected. Sure some trees were damaged but they were young and none of the trees his great-grandpa had planted were damaged. More damage had been done to the ground itself where two different sized craters were, side by side. The dirt formed two round bowls, the one in which Kurt had found the man was wider but the one with the hammer was deeper, showing how much it weighted. Out of idle curiosity Kurt tried to lift it but wasn’t surprised when it wouldn’t budge. He would need H.D.D. (Heavy Duty Droid) to come here and at least fill up the crater where he found the man. The man would probably want his hammer back so Kurt decided not to fill up that crater.

“Mai, send Aitch-Dee-Dee here with a mattock and a shovel. We need to fill up this crater,” Kurt told his mike and surveyed the rest of the field. Nothing else was out of order, maybe a little windswept but not out of order.

A few minutes later H.D.D. arrived, equipped with the mattock and shovel Kurt told him to. Kurt explained what he wanted the droid to do and left it to it’s task.  
Returning home sounded good to Kurt. Sun was setting and the last two and a half hours had been an emotional rollercoaster, first with the tornado warning (which was apparently a man arriving in his back yard), then the worry for his father (completely funded as the man had arrived just half a mile from their house), then the worry for the man (who arrived by a fucking TORNADO) and the damage done to his orchard. A slightly hysterical giggle escaped him and he decided to take the slow scenic route back home, aka. walking, to calm down and process everything.

When he arrived he was a lot calmer and asked Mai to do an identity search on the man upstairs. He wasn’t surprised when none was found.

Around half seven Burt came up from the basement for a quick dinner, telling Kurt about the device he was building. It was a matter transporter, not to be used on humans, mind you, that would work much like phones did: with the right number combination you could send one thing, such a glass, from one place to another. At the moment it was too big to be of any real use as it transported very small items. Within a few weeks, Burt was sure, he could cut down the size in half and quadruple the amount of mass that could be transported. He asked Kurt to take a look at the coding when he had the time and Kurt promised to start working on it.

After Burt had skipped back to the basement Kurt heated a portion of tomato soup and brought it up to the man. He woke the man up gently and fed the half asleep man three quarters of the soup before the man returned to sleep. He asked Medai the man’s condition and the answer was that the man had some superficial wounds, a sprained ankle and couple of pulled muscles and he was exhausted. He was in a lot better shape than Kurt had expected him to be but that just supported Kurt’s theory. The man wasn’t human. Or if he was, he was either medically enhanced (like Captain America) or a mutant (like the X-men) or he’d had an accident and been that way enhanced/cursed (like Dr. Banner, his grandma Julie’s ex-coworker who’d been caught in a gamma-radiation bomb and was cursed with the Hulk taking over his body when he was angry enough).

Shaking his head, Kurt went to do his homework and once again thanked the God he didn’t believe in that it was Friday and there wouldn’t be school tomorrow.

‘*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’

On Saturday morning Kurt woke up at seven am as Mai told him the temperature, weather, significant happenings in the world, what would be for breakfast and that his father had fallen asleep in the basement. The man hadn’t woken up during the night but he had healed at an incredible rate.

Dressing more for comfort than show, Kurt put on dark gray pleated pants, sea green button-up, dark green waist coat and a pocket watch. Black socks went with the attire too but he left shoes off, knowing Dee-Dee had vacuumed the evening before. He ate breakfast and watched some cartoons (just because) before going to wake his dad (Buggs Bunny was on next and for some reason Burt got annoyed if he missed the Saturday episode…). As his dad lumbered up to the kitchen, half asleep, Kurt gathered a large breakfast for the sleeping man upstairs and went to wake him up.

Opening the door, carefully balancing the tray on one hand, Kurt peeked into the room. The man was still sleeping. He closed the door behind him softly and padded over to the bed where he put the tray on the nightstand.

“Hey, big guy, you gotta wake up again,” Kurt cooed and shook his shoulder a little. “Breakfast’s ready.”

At the word breakfast the man’s baby blue eyes snapped open and he sprung to sit up.

“Hey, hey, calm down, you’re still probably tired,” Kurt said sternly and laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. The man watched wearily as Kurt puffed a couple of pillows and put them behind his back for further support before gently but determinedly pushed him back to rest on them. When he was satisfied that the man was resting, he drew a chair closer to the bed and sat. “So, can you tell me your name, stranger?”

“Thor, son of Odin,” the man answered without hesitation as Kurt put the breakfast tray on his lap.

“I’m Kurt Hummel, son of Burt Hummel,” answered Kurt with a smile. “I found you yesterday in the field behind our back yard. Do you have any idea how you ended up there?”

“My father sent me there through the Bifrost,” answered Thor and took a nibble of the sausage, deeming it appropriate and taking a much bigger bite. “Can you tell me which realm this is?”

“Bifrost? Realm?” asked Kurt in return, not understanding what the man was talking about.

“Yes, realm, like Vanaheim, Jotunheim… Asgard…” Thro tried to explain with his mouth full of eggs.

“Asgard? Like in Norse mythology with Odin and Loki and Freya and Thor?” Kurt arched his eyebrows. “In those terms this would be Midgard, I think, because we don’t have the dead or demons or frost giants or elves or valkyries or gods here, just plain humans.”

“Midgard,” Thor repeated slowly. “Father sent me to Midgard. Why in his name would he send me to Midgard? Here there is not even a frost giant to fight,” he complained and took as sip of the orange juice. His eyes bugged and turned to look at it. “What is this drink?”

Kurt’s eyebrows rose higher. “Orange juice. That’s tomato juice,” he pointed to the red drink, “that’s coffee,” he pointed to the steaming black drink, “usually drunk with sugar and milk, and that’s tea,” he pointed to the steaming, brown drink, “also usually drunk with sugar and milk. I hope you’re familiar with water and milk. I didn’t know what you liked nor how you liked them so I brought a bit of everything, like with the food. I hope I don’t have to explain them to you.”

“No, most of them are familiar to me but this,” Thor pointed to toast, “this,” he pointed to the pancakes, “and this,” he pointed to the cereal.

“That’s toast, a kind of bread that is usually toasted until a nice golden color and eaten with jam, any kind of jam really. Those are pancakes, a kind of waffle eaten with either butter or some kind of syrup. Personally I prefer the combination of butter and maple syrup but because it has so many calories, I only eat it on special occasion. And that is cereal. A kind of… small, dry and sugary bread eaten with milk. There are many kind of cereal but we only have some Kellogg’s. They’re made of corn,” Kurt tried to explain in terms that were common enough.

“You Midgardians have strange foods,” Thor simply said and continued eating. When he was done with the orange juice, he flung the glass away carelessly.

“Hey!” cried Kurt. “Why’d you do that for? That is one of my mother’s glasses!”

Thor blinked at him. “In Asgard that means “bring me more”.”

“Well, in Midgard we ask nicely, with please in the end, and don’t throw the glass or plate where we want it,” Kurt explained slowly, as I talking to a child.

“Bring me more, please,” Thor asked promptly.

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Try more like, “Could you bring me more orange juice, please?” and throw in a charming smile while you’re at it. You’ll get a lot better service that way. Note the polite “could” and please”.”

“Could you bring me more orange juice, please,” Thor repeated word for word.

“You should also give the glass when asking,” Kurt sighed as he got up and took the glass from the end of the bed. “And please be careful with the dishes, they were my mother’s,” he said over his shoulder as he closed the door, leaving a bewildered Thor behind.

When he returned, Thor was eating the cereal, having cleaned up the bacon, sausages, fried tomatoes and mushrooms and the scrambled, boiled and fried eggs. The tomato juice glass had been tasted and put aside, obviously not to Thor’s liking.

“Here’s you orange juice,” Kurt said and gave Thor the glass. He raised an eyebrow when he didn’t say anything. “Now you thank me for bringing it to you.”

“Thank you son of Burt,” Thor said dutifully with his mouth full.

“We ALSO don’t speak with our mouths full; it makes you hard to understand. And call me Kurt. No one calls anyone “son of” or “daughter of”. That’s why we have family names, mine is Hummel. If you’re not comfortable with calling me Kurt, call me Hummel,” said Kurt.

“Very well Kurt,” answered Thor after swallowing and before shoveling more cereal in.

“So… you’re Thor, the Norse god of thunder, wielder of Mjölnir,” Kurt finally broke the silence after a few minutes.

“Yes, that is right,” nodded Thor.

“Why are you on Earth?” Kurt asked with a frown.

“I believe my father is punishing me for starting a war with Jotunheim,” answered Thor, halfway the sentence remembering what Kurt had said of speaking with his mouth full. “He said something about learning humility.”

“So you start a war and get a time out,” summarized Kurt, arching an eyebrow.

Thor took a look at it and laughed. “You look like my brother Loki like that.”

“Really,” Kurt said sarcastically, “and here I was hoping I looked like you.”

“Of course,” nodded Thor, not catching the sarcasm. “Everyone wishes they looked like me.”

Now Kurt laughed. “I can see why you were sent here to learn humility.”

Thor blinked at him in confusion, continuing to eat.

“Are you married? What about Loki?” Kurt continued asking questions. Thor shook his head furiously. “Really? In all the legends you were married to Sif and Loki was married to Sigyn.”

Thor frowned and swallowed. “Sif is like a sister to me, she’s my comrade-in-arms. And she’s scary when she’s angry with me, I don’t think I’d like to marry her. And Loki doesn’t get along with anyone but family. I think it has to do with his pranks… I don’t know why no one likes him, he gives the best advice and lends a sensitive ear when I want to vent.”

Loki sounded exactly like in the legends… a manipulative prankster. Thor sounded like he loved his brother to pieces. Kurt just hoped that love would last until the end.

“I wish I had any siblings,” Kurt said wistfully. An older brother who’d have good looking guy friends over. An older sister who would talk about boys with him. A younger brother he could annoy. A younger sister he could teach the world of fashion. He’d take any of them.

“Why don’t you?” asked Thor and Kurt’s smile slipped off his face.

“My birth was complicated and lasted the better part of two days. In the end there were complications and my mother couldn’t bear any more children. And she died eight years ago. My father hasn’t remarried though he’s dating this woman, Carole, who has a son my age. His dad died in a war.” Kurt spoke haltingly, eyes down cast.

“Oh… I’m sorry for your loss my friend,” Thor said and laid a hand on Kurt’s shoulder.

Kurt gave him a brief smile which looked more like a grimace of pain. “It’s okay, it was a long time ago. Finn didn’t even know his dad and I have a lot of good memories of mom. And at least I still have dad. I can’t imagine my life without him and his crazy inventions. He’s working on a teleporter, you know. He built those hover boards which helped me get you here yesterday.”

“And will you be an inventor like your father?” asked Thor curiously.

Kurt shook his head and smiled. “I’m not one for mechanical innovation, software is much more up my street. But what I want is to be a performer on Broadway,” seeing Thor’s confused look, he elaborated, “it’s a theater district in New York City where I want to go after finishing high school. It’s literally the city of my dreams. People are much more accepting of people like me there.”

“People like you?” voiced Thor.

“I’m gay,” shrugged Kurt.

“What is wrong with being happy?”

“I meant homosexual, meaning I like other boys,” Kurt explained.

“I don’t see the problem,” blinked Thor. “In Asgard it is quite common for everyone to bed anyone, even those of different races. Marriage between same sexes are also quite common as long as they are not the heirs of their houses.”

“Really?” asked Kurt with shining eyes and a soft smile. “I hope I can marry my prince Charming one day.”

“Who is this Prince Charming you are talking about?”

“It’s an idiom, meaning the man that will love me for all my faults. Unfortunately, they seem to avoid Lima at all cost and I’m doomed to stay here for another two years, being bullied for my sexual orientation.” Kurt rolled his eyes and smiled wryly. “The closest I’ve come so far is sir Manners who has the humanity to at least rein in some of the bullying.”

“Who are bullying you my fair friend?” asked Thor who’s right hand was clutching at something that wasn’t there.

“It’s nothing much, just some jerks at school. And I’ve learned to cope with it. Now I even have friends so it’s not so bad anymore. I have always someone to sit with at lunch. And since I joined the Cheerios and started wearing the uniform, even the slushies have become rare. Though that is simply because Coach Sylvester would castrate them if one of the Cheerios’ uniforms was ruined by a Neanderthal.”

“And your teachers… Do they know what is going on?”

Kurt snorted. “Most of them just look the other way when they encounter it in the hallways. Some I’ve even seen encourage it and do it themselves. Of course, because they’ve been teachers for over ten years, the school can’t even fire them. If it could, Mrs. Wilson would have been fired years ago.”

Thor seemed to consider something as he munched on his toast.

“Are you going to drink your coffee?” asked Kurt, nodding to the no longer steaming liquid and took it when Thor shook his head.

After a moment Thor spoke. “When you next go to this school, I shall come with you and protect your honor,” he stated firmly and started on the pancakes.

“Yeah, thanks but no thanks,” Kurt huffed and sipped his still-warm-but-not-steaming coffee. “If I suddenly have something of a bodyguard who isn’t there the next week, I’ll probably take an unplanned trip down the stairs. Thank you for the offer though, it’s more than anyone else but my dad has offered me. And I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to go bashing skulls in my school. If you’re really from Asgard, which, by the way, looks very possible, you don’t have any recognizable identification anywhere in the system. At the best they’d send you to Mexico as an illegal immigrant where you’d be taken to jail for manslaughter. At the worst, they discover who and what you are and lock you up for experimenting. You might get the mutants to defend you but that is only if you hadn’t killed anyone. And going by your muscle build, it wouldn’t even be a problem for you. So, no, you won’t be coming with me to school on Monday.”

“But if they are hurting you for being different someone should do something about it,” Thor said, slightly confused as to why Kurt wouldn’t let him defend him.

“People are doing stuff about it,” answered Kurt. “The problem here is that the people here are very backwater. They cling to their prejudices and small minded attitudes and don’t watch the Trevor Project or documentaries about bullying. The biggest problem, I think, is that they are afraid of being different because then the town would turn on them. But if everyone was different then they wouldn’t have to worry about being different. This is one of the reasons I want to go to New York, no one is afraid to be different there.”

Thor was very put out. “Very well… I hope you reach your dream my fair friend.”

Kurt was about to answer when Mai interrupted him. “Master Kurt,” the disembodied voice said, startling Thor and making him look around wildly, looking for the source of the voice. “Miss Jones is calling.”

“Patch her through,” Kurt sighed. He knew this was coming.

“Hey boo,” Mercedes’ disembodied voice said.

“Hey girl, what’s up? We still up for shopping today?” asked Kurt, ignoring Thor who was still looking around wildly.

“Of course, and Brittany and Santana are too, I just called Santana and Britt’s mom. I just wanted to make sure you’re still up for it after yesterday’s scare. I know you live on the edge of the town and the reports say that it was near your house.”

“Yeah, I’m up to it. The damage was mostly to the field behind our backyard. By the way, would you mind if my cousin Thor came with us? He showed up yesterday out of the blue and will be leaving soon again and I’d like to spend as much time with him as I can while he’s here. Phone calls really aren’t the same thing as talking face to face.”

“It’s fine with me but are you sure he can keep up with us? You know we can shop for hours without a break…”

“Yeah, he’s good. And he can carry our bags, he’s got some serious muscle. But you are contributing to feeding him, I just watched him eat a full English breakfast, some oatmeal and porridge, toast, cereal, pancakes and now he’s devouring a fruit salad. He’s eyeing the yoghurt too,” Kurt chuckled and Thor looked at him questioningly. “No, go ahead and eat it, there’s more in the fridge.” Thor’s brows furrowed at the strange word but then he shrugged and continued eating.

Mercedes whistled. “Boo, you sure you’re not mistaking fat for muscles?”

“Nope,” answered Kurt and shook his head even though Mercedes couldn’t see him. “Thor has a tiny waist when compared to his shoulders. And his biceps are almost as big as my head. And his hands… well, they’re right shovels and you know what they say about big hands…”

“Boo, are you perving on your cousin?” snickered Mercedes.

“Thor’s my second cousin once removed but it’s easier to call him my cousin,” Kurt lied. But then again, he couldn’t exactly tell her Thor was the Norse god of thunder. “He’s also twenty-two.”

Mercedes laughed. “Whatever you say white boy. I’ll see you at eleven, bye,” she said and hung up.

“Call ended,” Mai announced.

“What was that?” asked Thor between mouthfuls.

“Well, Mai is an A.I., Artificial Intelligence, that I programmed. It was the one that told me Mercedes was calling. Mercedes is my best friend. And calling… umm… well, humans have this thing called a telephone and they can talk to each other across long distances as if they were talking face to face. Hopefully we can get you back to Asgard soon or you have a lot of learning to do,” Kurt rubbed his temples. “We have about two hours before we have to leave to the mall so we can go see that hammer of yours before we go.”

“Hammer? Is Mjölnir here?” asked Thor with wide eyes.

“I think so. There was a hammer not twenty feet from where you were. After I got you here I went back to survey the damage done to the field and tried to lift the hammer.” He shrugged. “It didn’t move. It might be something like with the legend of King Arthur’s first sword that only he could draw from the stone. Or maybe you can only lift it again when you’ve learned humility. Both sound like valid possibilities.”

“Father would do something like that,” Thor sulked and put the now empty tray on the bedside table. “Well my fair friend, let us go get Mjölnir back and then we can go meet with your friends.” He looked around the room. “Does thee know where my garments are?”

“I had Dee-Dee wash them so they’d be in the closet,” answered Kurt as he retrieved Thor’s tunic and breeches and his dad’s clean socks and new dark brown shoes. “I also had it make some adjustments to them to make them look more normal. You also can’t use your boots, no one has used animal skin boots since 19th century. My dad had some shoes in you size so… I hope you don’t mind.”

“Why would I mind your generosity? Is that another strange Midgard thing?” asked Thor as he put on the blue tunic.

“No, some just don’t want to use someone else’s shoes. Dad hasn’t used these yet, don’t worry,” Kurt said, tearing his eyes away from the dressing Thor and indicated to the shoes.

Thor turned the socks around in his hands when they were the only things left (before shoes). “How does one wear these?”

“You put them on your feet,” answered Kurt humorously. “They stop you from getting blisters to your feet for wearing new shoes.”

“What are blisters?” asked Thor as he tried to put on the sock. When Kurt saw he was pulling it up the wrong way, he laughed and twisted the sock around and showed Thor how socks were pulled up.

“Umm… Mai, define blister,” Kurt finally admitted defeat.

“A blister is a small pocket of fluid within the upper layers of the skin, typically caused by forceful rubbing, burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection. Most blisters are filled with a clear fluid called serum or plasma. However, blisters can be filled with blood or with pus if infected,” came Mai’s professional answer.

“They’re really sore if touched,” Kurt scrunched his nose. “One of the reasons I only have twenty pairs of fitting shoes at the moment, I hate breaking in new shoes because I always get blisters. Thank Goodness my feet don’t grow anymore.”

“How old are you, exactly, my friend?” enquired Thor as he was putting on the hoes.

“I’ll be seventeen in a month,” answered Kurt proudly. “I can’t wait. I know nothing important happens when you turn seventeen, you can drive when you’re sixteen, vote when you’re eighteen and drink alcohol when you’re twenty-one but still… in so many novels the protagonist is seventeen in the beginning… Gone with the wind as a good example. What about you? How old are you?”

“A couple millennia,” shrugged Thor. “After a few centuries years stop meaning so much. But since Midgard’s time moves so much slower than Asgard’s, here I’d be around thousand and three-hundred.”

“That’s a long time,” Kurt whistled.

“Not for us gods,” Thor commented as he stared at the shoe lashes. “What does one do with these?” he held them up to Kurt who snorted and tied his shoes.

“Do you want to walk or do you want to take the hover boards?” asked Kurt as they made their way down stairs.

“I would prefer to walk,” nodded Thor. “I like the way this ground feels. As old as Asgard but much wilder, like it hasn’t been restricted and molded as much as the ground in Asgard.”

“Huh… I have no idea why that could be but the fact that the country we’re in, the United States of America, is only a couple centuries old. Before that this was a land governed by the Indians who worshipped the nature much more than the Western civilization,” mused Kurt and led Thor to their back yard.

They walked in silence, Thor taking in the sights unique to Midgard (blue sky and yellow sun, the many life forms that were showing themselves…) and Kurt thinking of a way to make Thor quickly adapt to earth. When they got to the field (after jumping over a small stream. There had been a bridge once but it had been destroyed a few winters back) Kurt pointed to the half destroyed orchard and the crater beside it. The crater that had held Thor yesterday afternoon had been filled out as Kurt had ordered H.D.D. to do. You could barely tell there had been a crater to begin with.

Carefully Thor slid down to the middle of the crater and grasped the handle of the massive hammer. Trying to lift it like before his father sent him to Midgard, it didn’t budge. When he added some strength behind the wrench it shuddered but didn’t lift. Adding his other hand to the attempt Thor gritted his teeth as it only shuddered more violently and inched a little off the stone but never actually got free. Frowning, Thor put his all to the next wrench but when it didn’t move any more than it already had, he fell to his knees and released a shout of betrayed agony. The hammer had been his faithful companion since receiving it when he reached his maturity. And now it was refusing to lift.

Kurt quietly watched Thor’s increasing attempts to lift Mjölnir fail and when Thor released his agonized howl, Kurt slid beside him. Putting his hand around Thor’s shoulder and letting the nearly catatonic man lean on him in his time of need, Kurt offered his silent support. “I’m sure you can lift it as soon as you learn some humility,” he said quietly. “It’s how the fairy tales always end: when the hero has learned the lesson, the curse will lift. My favorite fairy tale is like that, the Beauty and the Beast. Would you like to hear it?”

When Thor didn’t react in any way, Kurt told him of the beautiful but arrogant prince who got cursed to the shape of a beast until someone learned to love him despite his beastly outer appearance or he would die when the rose withered away. He told of the centuries that passed and of the village that was established near the castle and of the beautiful and kind but stubborn inventor’s daughter that grew there. He told Thor about how the daughter had taken her father’s place as the beast’s prisoner when the inventor had trespassed on the beast’s grounds. He told Thor of the subtle love that sneaked into their hearts as the girl taught the beast to be kind and gentle and that outer appearance didn’t matter as much as what one did. He told how the beast had let the girl go and how the girl’s jealous suitor had rallied the villagers against the beast and had attacked the beast’s castle. He told about how the beast and the jealous suitor had fought, the beast avoiding hurting the man he thought the girl loved and how the suitor had mortally wounded the beast just as the girl and her father had reached the castle. He told how the girl’s declaration of love to the dying beast countered the curse and cured the once again beautiful prince and how they lived happily ever after.

Halfway through the story awareness had returned to Thor who listened to the story with fascination. Asgard didn’t have stories such as this one. They had stories of war and victory and saving beautiful women from the hands of the evil jotun. They rarely had anything to teach you but that you had to be prepared to sacrifice things if you wanted results. Thor thought he might prefer Midgardian tales to the ones in Asgard but didn’t say anything.

He understood what Kurt was trying to say. He was like the beast, cursed until he either learned humility or until his mortal body died. He wondered if it was normal for young men to be in the position Kurt was setting himself into, the role of the inventor’s daughter, or if there normally was a young woman comforting the heartbroken hero. He thought no woman could have done what Kurt had done for him. Kurt kept his hope alive, that one day might have learned enough humility to return to Asgard, once again the wielder of the mighty Mjölnir. And all this by telling him a simple story. He thought he might even prefer Kurt to some young lady who wouldn’t get their clothes dirty to comfort him, even if the said young lady would have breasts.

Thor turned to look at Kurt, really look at him. He had very pretty eyes, the color of Asgardian sky when the second sun was rising. The skin on Kurt’s face and hands was pale, much like parchment in moon light. His lips weren’t particularly full but the shade was one he had only seen in his mother’s pale pink roses. The high cheekbones and sharp jaw reminded Thor of his brother but only in a good way, as if every mocking shade had not been transferred. And Kurt’s hair! He remembered yesterday it had been in a funny coif but now it was naturally in slight waves, the sunlight shading it auburn. Kurt was so short, sitting next to Thor and his ear barely reached Thor’s shoulder. Suddenly realizing how small and… fragile Kurt was compared to him, never mind his apparent intelligence and inner strength, how breakable. And he was being bullied in a place of learning where he should be concentrating on learning and not avoiding physical harm done to him by the other students.

The sudden wave of protectiveness he felt for this small mortal caught him off guard. It wasn’t an emotion he was used to. Everyone he knew could protect themselves. The Warriors Three… Sif… Loki… his parents… the palace guards… the warriors invited to the feasts… But Kurt looked like he couldn’t even lift Thor’s practice sword. And he didn’t even have magic to protect him like Loki did, even if Thor normally scoffed at the idea of magic.

“Thank you,” he finally said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice and a small smile. “You are a very good friend. I do not know what might have happened had you not been here to draw my attention away from my current situation.”

“You probably would have stared at Mjölnir until you passed out from either sleep deprivation or thirst,” offered Kurt humorously. “Or until someone forced you away.”

Thor nodded his head. “Very much possible.” He paused and looked to the sky where the sun was shining much higher than when they came here. “I hope this has not made us late to the meeting with your friends.”

Kurt took out his pocket watch. “No, but we need to leave pretty soon if you’re up to it.” He looked uncertainly at Thor.

“Of course,” Thor nodded firmly. This was just a minor setback. With Kurt’s guidance he could learn humility. And he wanted to learn more about Midgard. On the way there (to the field from the house) he had seen at least fifty different life forms in the plants and insects and animals (not including humans in this… and Kurt was a whole new species in himself…). The whole of Asgard could boast maybe five hundred different plants and fifty different insects, twenty kinds of birds, fifteen lizards (and snakes), twenty five different fish and forty mammals (including the Aesir). This kind of diversity was unheard of in any other realm. Jotunheim couldn’t boast even of fifty different life forms on it’s surface, including the different bacteria (he’d heard Loki talk about it… his brother was so clever…). Niflheim and Hel only had one breed and that was the dead (if you didn’t count their ruler, half goddess, half giantess, and even then it would only be three).

Kurt stood up and dusted himself. “In that case I better tell you about my friends. First is Mercedes. She’s very proud and fierce…” Kurt continued to tell Thor of his friends as they walked to the house, commenting on Mercedes’ growing taste in clothing, Santana’s libertine ways and Brittany’s naivety. He told Thor not to believe anything Brittany said expect when someone confirmed it and he old Thor to deny whatever ridiculous thing Brittany could ask him (anything raging from “Are you a movie star?” to “Are you the Norse god of Thunder?” Thor had protested the last one, saying he wouldn’t lie but when Kurt said it would anger Santana to encourage Brittany’s fantasies (even if it would be true) he accepted his fate with a sigh). He told Thor how either Brittany or Santana (or both) would likely proposition to him to which he laughed and answered he’d been fighting propositions left and right since he’d reached the Asgardian equivalent of Earth’s fourteen years of age.

The drive to the mall was spent Kurt explaining Thor such things as car (“No, my father didn’t invent this though great-grandfather had a hand in the original T-Ford…”), mall (“It’s a place where many shops sell their wares. Usually there are at least a couple hundred stores and a food court…” “Food court? Why does food have a court? What is the king?” “McDonalds…” *sigh*), money (“One has to pay for the things they want. Sometimes it’s a book or a service such as a massage or food or a fashionable shirt…”) and fashion (“It’s the different styles people wear. For example, at the moment I’m dressed in a very old-fashioned way because nearly no one else wears waist coats and pocket watches and this kind of cravats anymore. You, on the other hand, are dressed in a medieval fashion because men don’t wear tunics or breeches, haven’t worn for centuries to tell the truth. Then there is fashion which means that many people wear or do the same thing. It is never bad to be fashionable but it is bad to become part of the mass…”). Thor didn’t understand much of what Kurt was talking about but he got the gist of it. If you wanted something nice (a new belt) or useful (new shoes to replace ones that were too worn to be used in public, Kurt’s words) or even completely useless (cheap and ugly hairpins made in China that were crimes against fashion, once again Kurt’s words) you had to pay with something called “dollars”. Something that Thor had none.

Arriving to this mysterious “mall” which Thor imagined as a market place, was something of a shock to the Asgardian. People were milling about their business, coming in and out of the doors, packing and unpacking their cars, arriving and leaving the “parking lot”. Kurt found an empty space somewhere in the middle of the cars and got both himself and Thor out of the car, leading the nearly overwhelmed man to the doors of the mall where three girls stood waiting.

“Hey Hummel, who’s the hunk?” asked Santana as a greeting and flicked her hair over her shoulder.

“This is my cousin Thor. He dropped by yester day. He’s staying with us for a while since it’s a long journey from Farwell, New Mexico,” Kurt lied through his teeth. “Thor, I told you about Mercedes, Santana and Brittany.”

“Yes, the pleasure is all mine, Lady Mercedes,” Thor said with a smile and kissed the back of Mercedes’ hand, “Lady Santana,” he kissed the back of Santana’s hand, “and Lady Brittany,” he kissed the back of Brittany’s hand. All three promptly blushed.

“Does he think I’m a princess or something?” Brittany whispered loudly to Santana.

“No, he’s just being a gentleman like my aunt has taught him to,” answered Kurt for the flustered Santana. “It’s like all men treated all women a few centuries ago.”

“Oh,” said a disappointed Brittany. “I wouldn’t have minded if he thought I was a princess. Is he a prince then? Because, no one else kisses anyone’s hand.”

Thor opened his mouth to agree, that he was the prince of Asgard, but in time he remembered to always deny whatever question Brittany asked him. So he laughed. “No, I’m no prince. My mother was just very conservative and taught me to greet women like this. Old habits die hard or so I’ve been told.”

“Yes, good, now if you’re done charming my friends, may we commence this shopping expedition?” asked Kurt sarcastically behind Thor.

Thor nodded. “Oh yes, I believe my cousin is right and you came here for shopping. Where shall we go first?” he asked and turned to look at Kurt, much like a lost puppy.

“Since most of your stuff was lost on the flight, I believe we should get you something else to wear,” Kurt sounded determined, looking at Thor critically.

“What are you talking about?” asked Mercedes with a grin, also looking Thor over. “More men should dress like that… maybe add a belt and with a little larger neckline but I’m not complaining about those breeches.”

“To the fabric store then,” smiled Kurt and offered his arms to Mercedes and Brittany. Both took them and Mercedes took Thor’s arm while Santana took the other.

The strange quintet earned some stares as they marched arm-in-arm to the fabric store where the girls and Kurt started comparing different fabrics against Thor’s skin, hair and eye color, ignoring his vocal protests at being probed and prodded. When a sales assistant came over to ask if they needed help, Kurt charged her with making note of all the fabrics they agreed to. The poor girl got the surprise of her life when they talked about the color, thread count, materials, stretching and feel like they were the professionals and not her. Though soon she caught on and started giving he own suggestions. After the first one Kurt looked at her critically before nodding and countering her suggestion with the fact that the materials she suggested couldn’t be washed at the same time.

They ended up with four tunic fabrics (with enough material for two tunics each) and two trousers fabrics (enough for only one trousers per fabric) for Thor, a skirt fabric for Santana, a summer dress fabric for Mercedes, hair ribbons for Brittany and new ribbon materials for Kurt before they got too hungry and left to find the food court.

Feeding Thor became a group effort when the man just wouldn’t fill up and Santana had fun suggesting ridiculous foods, all of which Thor ate. In the end he ate three times more than everyone else put together.

“Wow Kurt, you weren’t kidding when you said he could eat,” Mercedes whistled. “He could probably out eat my hungry uncle Joey and that’s saying something.”  
“Shall we now return to shopping?” Thor asked pleasantly. “This far we’ve only looked at fabrics.”

“Oh, Kurt, I like him,” Santana cooed. “Straight back to business. Now that’s my kind of man,” she said while giving him the bedroom eyes.

“Down Satan, no molesting my cousin,” Kurt said and rolled his eyes. He got up and the others followed his example, Thor taking the bags without prompting. “Let’s start at Macy’s.”

‘*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’

Shopping was a humbling experience for Thor who believed himself to be in excellent shape, even without his powers and strength doubling belt. But seeing his new friend run from store to store, going through the racks with a fine tooth comb, trying on the clothes and then haggling with the clerks when he found some fault in their product was exhausting, even when he sat by the fitting rooms most of the time they were in a store, sometimes commenting on Kurt, Brittany, Santana or Mercedes’ outfit. Even if he was unofficially the official bag boy, the transits between stores were less exhausting than the time spent in them. Sometimes he got some pitying looks from other patrons of the stores, assuming he was someone’s boyfriend or older brother who had been forced to endure a day of shopping. And sometimes some other man shared his resting place and commented on some other mortal’s clothes when asked and good naturedly rolled his eyes and smiled at Thor when one of his own companions asked him a question.

By the end of the day his hands were full of bags from different stores that had been thrust to him sometime during the day. When they were ready to leave, Thor and Kurt stopped by Mercedes and Santana’s cars first to drop off their shopping to the trunks of their cars before making their way to Kurt’s car with the last bags. Thor hoped the exhausting experience was over but didn’t dare voice his hope in fear that Kurt still had some steam in him.

“I hope not every Saturday is like that,” he said and relaxed to the passenger seat of Kurt’s car.

“Oh, no, only one every third month when it is time to choose a new season wardrobe,” answered Kurt. “You just happened to arrive for spring shopping. In three months it’s going to be summer shopping and in six months fall shopping and in nine months winter shopping. Simple.”

Thor closed his eyes and almost felt like crying and he hadn’t cried in a thousand Midgard years.

“Tomorrow I’ll make you those tunics and breeches and you can watch movies to understand the Earth culture better. I think you’ll even like Braveheart. But since you seemed to like my story this morning I’ll make sure there are at least a few Disney movies in the mix,” Kurt chatted, not really saying anything important but keeping the car from falling into silence.

When they drove up the drive way, they caught a sight of black cars in the yard and men in suits hurrying around. A lit path led through the woods towards the field – and Mjölnir.


	2. Chapter two

Kurt and Thor got out of the car, glancing at the suit men with curiosity and a little dread. Taking the bags, Thor followed his small mortal… friend to the house.

“Dad! I’m home!” Kurt announced and strutted to the living room where Burt was with a middle aged suit man. The man was obviously from whatever agency the men outside were and therefore interested in Mjölnir – and Thor. So a lie was needed. “I ran into cousin Thor down town. You remember him right? Mom’s second cousin? From New Mexico?” Kurt asked his dad pointedly as Thor appeared behind him at the doorway.

Burt looked clueless for a second but when he caught Kurt’s glance at the suit man sitting on the couch he nodded his understanding. Kurt didn’t want the man to know who the blond man was. “Oh. Oh! Cousin Thor, of course,” he nodded and offered his hand to the now smiling blond. “Good to see you again son, it’s been too long. Tell me, how’re your parents?”

“Quite well last time I heard,” answered Thor and took the offered hand, not even flinching when Burt seemed to be attempting to break his bones. “My brother has had some problems lately though.”

“Thor and I thought he could crash at our place and that we could watch a movie. Thor, I hope you remember my room is across the hall from the one you usually slept in when we were younger. Go set up my laptop and I’ll be there in five minutes with the movie and popcorn,” Kurt hinted, wanting Thor away from the government man. Thor didn’t understand the cough at first but when Kurt turned his eyes to the stairs behind him for a few seconds, he got it.

“Oh, yes, I remember,” Thor nodded. “I’ll go set up the laptop,” he said and turned to leave. “I’ll see you later Uncle Burt,” he waved his free hand over his shoulder and carried Kurt’s bags up the stairs as the three who remained in the living room watched him go.

“What’s going on?” asked Kurt, turning to look at the suit man.

“This is agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. Apparently something alien dropped into the field during that storm yesterday. It destroyed some of grandfather’s orchard,” Burt said carefully, weary of Kurt’s reaction.

Kurt shrugged. “I know, I went to look at the damage yesterday.”

Now Burt arched an eyebrow and his eyes flickered to where Thor had stood. Kurt gave an unnoticeable nod of confirmation. “Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Burt with a frown marring his brow.

“I wanted to study it on my own,” Kurt stated indifferently, hiding his fascination with Thor. He really did want to study Thor but he knew Thor was a person first and foremost.

Burt nodded in understanding, “Okay, but you still should’ve told me, I wouldn’t have taken your toy away. Now go make that popcorn, we don’t want a repeat of what happened five years ago when Thor got bored,” he huffed, adding believability to the lie.

“Yeah,” agreed Kurt with a roll of his eyes. He really loved his dad, especially when they understood each other. He left to make the popcorn and left Burt to talk with agent Coulson.

When he had the popcorn and the movie (well, an assortment of movies for Thor to choose from) he headed upstairs, ignoring the two talking men in the living room. He paused when he heard talking from his room though, one was Thor and the other was someone he had never heard before. Though the words were muffled and he couldn’t understand them, the tones they spoke in were clear as a day. Thor’s voice was full of pain and regret, the stranger’s tone was conceding and solemn. When the stranger’s soft voice took on the note of finality and eventually stopped, Kurt knocked on the door before opening it.

Thor was on his knees in the middle of Kurt’s spacious room staring blankly at Kurt’s wardrobe doors. News, Kurt realized, only sad news could reduce someone so quickly to that state. And news meant someone from Asgard had visited Thor in that short moment it took Kurt to make popcorn and choose the movies to bring Thor. Kurt hastily put the popcorn and movies to his desk and hurried to the thunder’s side.

“Hey big guy,” he said as he knelt down before Thor and taking his face between his hands. He forced Thor to look him into the eyes. “What happened?” he asked patiently and wiped away the tear that escaped the glassy eyes.

“Loki,” whispered Thor brokenly. “Loki told me our father has died. The war and my banishment were too much for him.” Thor caught his breath and bit his bottom lip. “My brother has also explained why h cannot be the one to counter my banishment. It was the last big thing our father did. Loki cannot undo his last command as one of his first. Maybe in twenty or thirty Earth years but not before. If… if I earn back my powers and Mjölnir before, my return could cause a civil war…”

Not wanting to point out that Loki was the god of lies, Kurt chose to offer comfort the best way he knew. Clearing his throat he began to sing. Phil Collins may have been cliché but Thor had never even heard of him before so it didn’t really matter.

During the song, Thor had really started to cry and by the end of it, he was hugging Kurt like his life depended on it. Kurt just hugged back even though he wasn’t used to positive physical contact from other males close his age (or physically close his age like Thor).

“And you don’t know much else but fighting…” Kurt muttered after the song, thinking of Thor’s possible futures. He could get an education but Thor seemed like a person who didn’t thrive in a school environment, like Puck. He could begin teaching fighting but Kurt doubted he had the patience for it. He could become a career athlete or body builder with his body type but that kind of life was so…shallow… that Kurt wouldn’t wish on anyone. Now if Thor got his powers back, he could… become a self made superhero, much like Tony Stark being Iron Man. That way he would be mostly safe from people who would want to experiment on him… But still, he would need money for living… Kurt thanked the God he didn’t believe in he had more than enough money from his patents for the two of them to live comfortably if need be. And his dad would probably help when Kurt explained everything to him. “We have to get you educated in Earth things and then get you your powers back even if you didn’t leave right away. Fortunately for you, I have the perfect movie to teach you about humility, humans and a little of Earth’s history all in one.”

“Is it inherently part of human culture?” asked Thor dryly.

“Yes it is,” answered Kurt. “At least to everyone above the age of ten. You fall into that category now.”

“I suppose I do,” smiled Thor weakly.

“It’s not the end of the world,” offered Kurt. “We’ll get you an identity and get you assimilated quickly enough and you can leave if you want to. You can have exactly the kind of life you want on Earth. Well, expect the life of a prince but those are boring nowadays. They have very little actual power.”

Thor huffed with a small smile. “There really is not much I can do but fight. But my fair friend, you promised me a “movie”. What is it?”

Kurt smirked. “Titanic.”

“Huge?” asked Thor, confused once again.

“No,” Kurt laughed. “The movie’s name.”

‘*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’

Three hours later tears streamed down Thor’s smiling face when the credits started rolling. He turned to Kurt, pillow clutched to his chest. “Was that real? Did it really happen?”

“Well, Rose and Jack didn’t, they’re just the writer’s imagination,” quipped Kurt, “but mostly everything else did happen. The panic, the bribery, the segregation of classes… the people freezing to death,” he trailed off. “It was the largest accident known to man at the time.”

“And all this happened because there wasn’t enough life boats on Titanic?” asked Thor.

“And because the people in the crow’s nest weren’t paying attention,” Kurt reminded him, wanting to spread the blame to everyone it belonged to. “And that guy who persuaded the captain to make Titanic sail faster because it couldn’t be controlled at the speed it was going.”

“Yes, I suppose the lookouts were rather busy teasing each other,” Thor mused.

A snort escaped Kurt. “Yeah, that too. Personally I think they were flirting but to each their own. Irresponsible crewmembers aside, did you learn anything from the   
movie?”

“If you get into a shipwreck because of an ice berg and are one of the unfortunate ones in the water, stay awake and you have higher chances of surviving,” answered Thro thoughtfully.

Kurt laughed. “ That’s good but I meant more like about what Jack did for Rose in the end. He knew he would die if he stayed in the water but still he made her stay on the raft and made her promise to live,” he explained. “Or how the forces of nature beat the oh-so-advanced humans. Or how Jack with humble roots won the girl rather than the rich Cal. Can you connect the dots?”

Slowly Thor nodded. “I think so. The humans as a race were humbled by nature when the ice berg sunk the unsinkable Titanic. Rose chose the humble Jack because she was being stifled by the rich people and their ideals. Jack represented everything she wanted to be. Jack chose to die instead of letting Rose die because-“

“Because he loved her,” Kurt interrupted him, feeling like he was going to analyze Jack’s sacrifice for more than it actually was. “There was no other reason for it. It wasn’t because she had more to offer the world than him. It wasn’t because she had more people to miss her than him. It was simply because he loved her. He wouldn’t have done it for anyone else as he was an arrogant son of a bitch but he loved her and that’s what made the difference. Romantic love is another concept I’m not sure you quite understand, at least the way we humans understand it because of your long life span. I’m not saying it’s a complete mystery to you, but because you live longer a life commitment probably includes at least a couple of mistresses even if you loved your spouse. But anyway, in the movie, the love between Rose and Jack was of the purest kind. During the movie, they risked life and limb for each other and in the end, Jack died and Rose, well, she loved him enough to keep her promise to him and lived. This is the opposite of Romeo and Juliet which you’re watching tomorrow by the way.”

“I’ve never been in love,” admitted Thor after a while. “I love my family and my friends and I’ve bedded beautiful men and women but never twice the same person. But… I want to have what Jack and Rose had.”

“Not the only one,” Kurt rolled his eyes. “Everyone wants that. I want that, even though the chances of it happening before I go to New York are one in a million.”  
“Kind of like a god from another realm landing in your back yard,” chuckled Thor.

“The chances of that happening are actually something like one in fifteen billion,” Kurt counted quickly. “As none of you have been on Earth for about thousand years, right?”

Thor thought it for a moment. “You must be a very lucky person, my friend.”

Kurt looked at him for a moment. “I think I just might be,” he said with a small smile and equally small voice. “I guess… now that the movie is over, you should head to your room… busy day tomorrow, watching movies and all that.”

“I suppose I should retire to my chamber, shouldn’t I,” Thor said quietly, locking eyes with Kurt.

“Yes, you really should,” answered Kurt with equally quiet voice, not breaking the eye contact.

For a while everything was quiet, the only sound being Titanic’s closing credits. Kurt looked at Thor and Thor looked at Kurt. Both were searching something in the other’s eyes, yet neither was sure what it was.

Just as it seemed like they had found what they’d been looking for, Burt called Kurt from downstairs and whatever it had been, was broken. Kurt turned away with a blush and Thor got a speculative spark in his eyes, similar to one Loki had when he found out something interesting.

“Yes dad?” shouted Kurt back as he got off the bed.

“Come down for a second?”

“Be there in a minute,” called Kurt in answer. He took a deep breath and turned back to Thor. “I have to go see what dad wants. Do you want some kind of snack before bed though? It’s half past nine so it should be fine…” his blush deepened as he saw Thor watching him.

“I could go with some granola and yoghurt, please,” Thor said, remembering the “please”, as he got up and stretched. “Do you mind if I take a look at the stars from your balcony?”

“Oh, no, no, go ahead,” Kurt said with a large smile that covered up his confused feelings as he turned to leave. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said and fled the room and Thor’s gaze. Closing the door behind him, he leaned against the hallway wall, heart pounding a mile a minute. To tell the truth, he hadn’t even noticed when his heart stated racing. Was it during the movie? Or when the movie ended and Thor turned his oh-so-trusting blue eyes to him, asking if it had been real? Or was it when they talked about love? Or during that long gaze into each other’s eyes? None of it mattered though, it didn’t matter if he was crushing on Thor because Thor would leave as soon as he could, most likely not caring if he broke Kurt’s heart in the process.

Turning his thoughts forcefully away from the god and to his father, he heaved a sigh and made his way down the stairs and to the kitchen where Burt is waiting for him, a sandwich in front of him.

“So what’s his story?” Burt asked and took a bite from his sandwich.

“Well, he says he’s from another “realm”, Asgard, and that his father sent him to Earth, or “Midgard”, to teach him humility,” accounted Kurt. “He appeared in the field during the storm yesterday with some superficial injuries that healed overnight. All this, and his mannerism, support his story of being from another realm, of course depending on the fact that we accept Einstein-Rosen Bridges are real. His situation is much like a story, he learns humility, he gets his powers back. Problem, however, is that his father has died and his brother has seized the power. Should he return before his brother has established his rule, Asgard could go to civil war. He estimates this could take twenty to thirty years of Earth time and sixty to ninety years of Asgard time.” He looked his father in the eye. “May Thor stay at least until he can decide what to do while on Earth?”

Burt was silent and stared speculatively at his son. Then he said slowly: “You’re crushing on him, aren’t you?”

Kurt nodded quietly. He knew his dad was still slightly uncomfortable discussing his sexuality even if he fully accepted it. “Dad, you don’t have to talk about this. I know you don’t like to hear me talk about boys.”

“I know,” answered Burt honestly. “But you’re my son and boys are gonna be a big part of your life. And I don’t wanna be exempt to any part of it.”

“Except my sex life,” piped Kurt and blushed when he realized what he’d said. “N-not that there’s one at the moment. I-I haven’t even had my first kiss yet.”

Burt sighed in relief. “Good. That’s good, very good.” Both refused to speak for a while, embarrassed about the topic that had risen for the first time. “You tell me the minute he goes back to his home dimension and I’ll arrange you a date with Ben and Jerry’s. Do you have a favorite?”

Smiling weakly, Kurt answered: “Caramel Chew Chew… Thanks dad.”

“No problem kiddo, that’s what dad’s are for, eh?”Burt said gently. His expression changed. “But the next kid you bring home gets the full treatment from inquisition to threats. I’ve still got a couple of up in the attick…”

“I know,” laughed Kurt and started making to bowls of granola and yoghurt, one small and one large, titanic actually.

Returning to his room Kurt saw Thor leaning against the railing on his balcony, ignoring the beach chairs strategically placed around. He was looking up at the stars and quietly Kurt offered him the bowl and spoon. He told Mai to turn off the yard lightening and his room’s lights, wanting to give Thor the best view of the stars he could. He was so lucky his room was not on the side S.H.I.E.L.D. had illuminated.

“I love the stars,” he said and sat to the chair closest to Thor. “They remind me of my mother.”

Thor turned to him and took the chair next to his. “How so?”

“She used to tell me the stories of the different constellations,” smiled Kurt. “Did you know that when we look at the stars, we don’t see the present, but rather the past?”

“Really?” snorted Thor and laughed. When he noticed Kurt wasn’t joking, he turned more serious. “Really?”

“Yes,” answered Kurt, slightly annoyed that Thor had laughed. “It takes light years, thousands of years, to travel from their place of origin to Earth. What we see are the stars as they were rather than what they are at the moment.”

Thor was quiet for a moment. “Earth really is a fascinating place,” he finally said, looking at Kurt. “You may have the shortest lives but each of you strives to better you society in your own way. I wouldn’t be surprised if soon you were one of the most advanced races in the nine realms.”

Kurt blinked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” hesitated Thor. “Your science. It seems so advanced. We don’t have anything like Mai or phones or TV in Asgard. Me may have magic bur we are so used to doing things in a certain way that we’ve stopped inventing. In a few years you should be able to build something like Bifrost and then our only advantage over you would be gone should you want to wage a higher form of war. That “gun” in the movie? it was almost a hundred years old, right? What kind of weapons are out there now?”

“The kind that can wipe out cities in seconds and render the land around it unusable for hundreds of years, maybe thousands,” Kurt answered with blinking. “Only two of those kinds of bombs have been used and they were small scale even if the body count was sky high.” He was quiet for a second. “Not America’s proudest moment,” he chuckled dryly. “You’ll learn more about the World Wars and slavery and genocide tomorrow. But let’s talk about something more cheerful. Tell me about Asgard?”  
Thor, who had been horrified seconds before, became lively and excited. It was clear he loved his home. “It is beautiful. It is a large island. We have mountains and woods there, they are majestic. The sky flares in different colors. When the suns are down, it is much like Earth’s night sky except a little more red. When the first sun is rising, the sky becomes yellow, turning green as the sun rises. When the second sun rises, for a while it takes on the same color as your eyes, that mix of green, blue and gray, and turns blue when the second sun rises higher. When the first sun sets, it paints the sky different shades of red. When the second sun sets, at first the sky is pink but by the end, it is a deep violet and the bit between the mountains is a fascinating mixture of red and brown. The stars… there are as many stars as there are here but in completely different patterns…” Thor continued to describe Asgard and it’s people to Kurt who listened raptly. When the night got chilled he fetched them some blankets and before he knew it, he had drifted to sleep.

When Thor noticed Kurt had fallen asleep, he stopped talking and simply looked at the young mortal. Kurt was internally so strong yet his body seemed so fragile (he wasn’t going to say weak after seeing him shop for hours on end). His fingers itched to cares Kurt’s face, run down his cheeks and trace over his lips and eyelids. He wanted to run his fingers through his hair and down his neck and cup those cheeks as he drew him closer for a kiss.

Which he couldn’t do. At least not yet, not while he was still unsure whether or not he’d get back to Asgard, if, “or when,” Kurt’s voice sounded in his head, he’d get his powers back. He wouldn’t start something he couldn’t finish and Kurt… he wasn’t that kind of person to have a fling. Kurt would want the whole thing. The courting, the poetry, the romance.

To Thor’s surprise, he wanted to do all that with Kurt. But seeing as he’d been on Earth for a little more than twenty four hours and didn’t own anything but the clothes he arrived in and didn’t have his powers, he wouldn’t be able to give Kurt anything.

He traced Kurt’s cheek with his right pointer finger. “I’m so sorry I cannot be what you want. But I promise I’ll be your friend as long as we are both on Earth,” he whispered and snuggled on his own chair, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself. He watched Kurt until he fell asleep himself.

‘*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’

Waking to birds chirping and a stiff neck wasn’t Kurt’s idea of an ideal morning. But waking up next to a handsome man certainly was. Feeling content for now, he decided to lay on the chair he usually used for star gazing. He stretched like a cat before returning to watch Thor.

Never before had he liked blond (or long) hair but on Thor they looked divine. In a way, he supposed, they were, with Thor being the god of thunder and all. Nor had he particularly liked beards but on Thor it made him looked ruggedly handsome. Tanned skin on the other hand had always been what Kurt wanted from his ideal boyfriend. Thor’s hands were more calloused than anyone else’s he’d ever seen but that’s what you got for being a warrior he guessed. Thor was tall, taller than Finn, and much more muscular. Kurt liked that. He felt safe with Thor.

Sleepy blue eyes blinked open and Kurt blushed at having been caught staring. Still, he smiled. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he greeted.

“Mornin’,” Thor yawned and sat up. “Did we sleep here all night?”

“I think we did,” commented Kurt as he sat up as well. “I need a shower and so do you. The guest bathroom is right next to your room. Leave your clothes outside the door and Dee-Dee will have them washed and dried by the time you’re done,” he walked to his own bathroom leaving Thor to fumble on his own through a shower for the first time in his life.

After getting shampoo to his eyes three times Thor finally managed to wash his hair and skipping the “conditioner” and “shower gel”, he wrapped himself in the softest towel he’d ever felt and peeked out of the bathroom door. There, on the floor, were his now clean clothes neatly folded. Sighing in relief, he dried and dressed himself, leaving the safety of the bathroom.

Leisurely he wandered down the stairs and to the kitchen where he found Burt with a cup of coffee. Awkwardly he hovered at the door.

“Get in here son,” Burt said without looking up from his paper.

Thor obeyed and sat in front of Burt, waiting for whatever it was that Burt wanted to talk about.

Finally Burt put away his paper and turned his attention to Thor.

“So,” he said. “You’re from another dimension then?”

“Umm… yes sir,” answered Thor uncertainly. It wasn’t quite as simple as that. His brother had compared everything that was to a linen closet or a fabric stall at the market place. The different pieces of fabric were universes that were built out of dimensions, or in the fabric’s cases, thread. Threads had it’s own particles that represented the realms. Since thread was so dense compared to everything else, it was easier to travel between realms than dimensions and universes. But Thor doubted Burt would appreciate a lecture on correct definitions this early in the morning. He certainly hadn’t when Loki explained it to him.

“And you’re going back as soon as you can?” continued Burt.

“Well, you see-“

“Yes, Kurt filled me in on your situation,” Burt waved his explanation aside. “But for now you need a place to stay, don’t you?”

“Yes sir,” Thor blinked at the father of his favorite mortal.

Burt nodded. “In that case you will be staying with us for an undetermined length of time.”

“If you will allow me,” Thor confirmed. He was in no hurry to leave Kurt.

“In that case, welcome to the family cousin Thor,” Burt offered his hand over the table. When Thor took it, Burt squeezed a little harder than necessary. “But if you or your actions hurt my son while you’re still on Earth, you’ll learn a new meaning for pain.”

“Yes sir,” Thor accepted. He would rather hurt himself than Kurt but Burt didn’t know that.

Kurt coming down the stairs prevents any further conversation on the topic. Thor’s eyes were drawn to Kurt and a smile lighted his face. Kurt smiled and blushed when he caught sight of Thor. A special spark was in both of their eyes.

Burt saw that spark and realized that despite Kurt’s youth and Thor’s alien status, they would end up together, be it that day or years from now but it would happen. He knew because the spark Kurt and Thor had was the same he and Katie had had. And they ended up married, even if Burt personally thought she deserved so much more than an inventor in Ohio. The welcome to the family had been for so much more than simply a cousin, it had been the welcome of a son.  
The preparing of breakfast was well underway, Thor stirring and serving the porridge while Kurt was flipping pancakes, when someone knocked on the kitchen window. As one, all three turned to the sound, expecting it to be one of the agents that littered the yard.

In the garden were three men and one woman, all dressed in some kind of medieval armor. All four of them were waiving happily at Thor who stared for a second before grinning and rushing to open the back door.

“My friends!” he cried happily as he hugged each of them in turn. He introduced them to the Hummels. “Kurt, Burt, these are my friends, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg. Friends, these are Burt Hummel and Kurt, son of Burt. They generously offered me a room. Now, what are you doing on Earth?”

Kurt snickered quietly. Normally the question was “What on earth are you doing?” rather than “What are you doing on Earth?”

“We came to bring you home,” answered Sif with a large smile.

Thor and Kurt both stiffened. “You know I cannot come home.”

Before anything else could be said, Burt huffed. “I’ll leave you kids to it then. Thor, remember what we discussed,” he said and took his empty plate to the kitchen counter. “I think I have some shopping to do. Kurt, it was Caramel Chew Chew you liked, right?” Seeing Kurt nod, he left, shaking his head fondly.

Curious, Kurt turned to Thor. “What were you talking about?”

A light blush dusted his cheeks and he looked away. “Nothing,” he said a little too quickly.

“Really?” asked Kurt with arched eyebrows. “Because that sounded like dad talk for “If there’s a scratch on him, I’ll electrocute your nerves so badly you’ll be twitching still in ten years.” He’s used the same voice with my cousins before.”

“We had a talk,” answered Thor shiftily, refusing to look at anyone.

“I can te-“ Kurt started before his eyes widened. “Don’t tell me he actually threatened you?”

“Not with so many words,” Thor answered with a grin before turning to his friends. “My friends, you know why I cannot come back. My actions killed father and my return could mean civil war and leave Asgard in weak against invasion.”

“Killed?” asked Fandral. “Your father isn’t dead. He just fell into Odinsleep and because of your exile Loki seized the power. He is going to use Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim.”

Kurt blinked a couple times and turned to Thor. “You have a weapon that can destroy worlds and you’re horrified we have bombs that destroy cities?”

“Earth is much larger than any other realm,” shrugged Thor. “And your ecosystem is much more divertive than any other realm. I don’t want anything to happen to it.” Something Fandral had said finally registered. “What do you mean my father’s not dead?”

Sif and the Warriors Three glanced at each other and finally Sif decided to speak. “Your father is in Odinsleep and your mother has refused to leave his bedside. Since you were here on Midgard, Loki took the throne. And he is going to use the Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim.”

Thor looked to Kurt for guidance, not sure what his friends expected from him. He didn’t have his powers and wasn’t even allowed to Asgard. He doesn’t need Kurt to tell him it’s genocide and that it’s bad. Before this moment, he hadn’t really realized how much he deferred to Kurt but now he realizes, on Earth, he trusts no one above the small mortal. And in Asgard, he’d trust his father to lead the kingdom, not give him pointers in… well, life, even if he’d lived close to twenty thousand years… “But there is nothing I can do about it. I cannot lift Mjölnir and I don’t have my-“

“Master Kurt, I hate to interrupt, but an unidentifiable robot has landed in the field. The robot has just destroyed the S.H.I.E.L.D. encampment around Mjölnir. S.H.I.E.L.D. has answered fire but don’t seem to be doing much good. It is headed this way,” Mai interrupted Thor. “May I suggest retreating to the bomb shelter?”

Kurt and Thor rushed out of the back door to the yard where they could see the path to the field. And the robot on the path.

“It’s the destroyer,” Thor realized as the robot released a flame, destroying the forest around it. “It does whatever the king of Asgard tells it to.” He turned to his friends who had followed them outside. “We need time,” he told them, ”as long as you can get me.”

“We can do that,” Sif said confidently, taking a step forward. The Warriors Three nodded and followed. “Distract it,” she commanded them as they clutched their weapons and she disappeared into the forest.

Thor turned to Kurt and threw him over his shoulder. “You are going to that bomb shelter Mai was talking about,” he said as he jogged to the house, flinching just a little when Volstagg crashed through the window. He set the fuming Kurt down.

“And what are you going to do, genius?” snapped Kurt, pissed off at having been handled like a sack of potatoes. “At the moment you’re just as mortal as I am.”

“I know,” Thor said looking at Kurt, reaching to cradle Kurt’s face. “And I don’t want to see you dead. Especially because of something my presence caused,” he whispered and bent to kiss Kurt on the forehead. Thor then rushed back out of the door, just in time to see the destroyer fling Sif to one of the big boulders in the back yard.

He skidded to a halt next to her. “Sif, you’ve done enough. Get the Warriors Three and get Kurt to safety. I’ll take it from here.”

“No,” she gritted her teeth. “I’ll die a warrior’s death. They’ll tell stories of this.”

“No, you have to live and tell those stories yourself,” Thor convinced her. “Please, take Kurt to safety.”

Sif looked at him in the eyes for a few seconds and finally nodded. “Very well, I’ll do as you asked,” she said and sprinted to the house where Fandral and Hogun were supporting Volstagg and Kurt was at the door.

Kurt and Thor’s eyes locked for a second. Kurt’s eyes reflected denial and in Thor’s eyes shone acceptance. Blinking the tears away, Thor turned to the destroyer and started walking towards it, speaking to Loki, trying to reach the brother he grew up with.

“Brother, I don’t know what I have done to anger you so but leave them out of this. They are innocent.” ‘Particularly Kurt’ thought Thor. ‘You haven’t met him but if you did, I think you’d like him.’ “You can kill me but please brother, let them be.”

He and the Destroyer were a couple of feet away from each other, not close enough for Thor to attack or react should the Destroyer hit him. The Destroyer hesitated and even made as if to turn away but when Thor had started smiling, it turned around and hit him, sending him flying to the house.

A panicked shout of denial escaped Kurt who escaped the hold Sif had on him, racing to Thor’s fallen form. “MAI! SEND MEDAI! QUICK!” he shouted as he fell on his knees next to Thor’s battered form. His hands went straight to cradling Thor’s head, turning it to face Kurt, and he wiped the blood leaking from his mouth with his thumb.

“It’s over,” whispered Thor with a small smile, leaning to Kurt’s palms.

“No, no, nono, it’s going to be okay,” Kurt soothed him, running his fingers through Thor’s hair. “We’re gonna fix you and you’re going to stop a genocide and show your brother you love him despite what he may or may not have done.”

“No, you don’t understand, it’s over,” Thor gestured to the Destroyer which had started it’s way to the field. “You’re safe,” he breathed and closed his eyes.

“No, no, don’t go to sleep, we’ve talked about this, you could have a concussion and falling asleep could lead to a coma and I’m not prepared to deal with that!” Kurt started to become hysterical when Thor didn’t open his eyes, just smiled sheepishly.

Then his chest wasn’t moving anymore.

“No…” Kurt whispered in denial, tears springing to his eyes. “No… no, no, nono, Thor you can’t do this to me,” he whispered and slapped Thor’s face. When Thor didn’t react at all to the slap, he finally gave in and started crying over Thor’s still chest.

What he didn’t notice was Mjölnir flying through the woods towards them. As it reached them, Thor’s hand shot up and grabbed the handle, every godly power returning from that single touch. Kurt startled back when Thor started rising off the ground, his armor returning at an accelerating pace and his cape seemingly growing back. Finally his blue eyes snapped open.

The Destroyer had noticed Thor hadn’t died and started to lumber back.

The following fight was impossible to follow since it consisted of a tornado, large quantities of fire and lightening. Eventually Thor emerged victorious, lowering from the heights.

Kurt, who had been watching the fight slightly slack jawed, rushed to meet his and jumped to hug him. “You’re not dead,” was the mantra he repeated fervently as Thor hugged him back.

When Kurt was finally back on the ground he looked at Thor sternly. “Titanic’s moral lesion wasn’t that you should get killed for those you love. Don’t you ever, EVER, do that again!” Then he frowned and looked at Thor’s clothes. “What are you wearing?”

Thor looked down, confused as to what he meant. “My armor. Why?”

Kurt shook his head. “I don’t know what your stylist was thinking, mixing that shade of red with black and metal, or giving you red at all. Orange, yellow, blue and purple would suit you so much better. And why are they mixing patterns? You can’t use circles and checkers in the same outfit. You, Mr., are not wearing that if you ever want to hang out with me ever again,” Kurt poked his chest.

Thor just smile. “I’m just happy I could protect you,” he said gently.

Kurt’s eyebrow twitched. “Don’t ever let it get that far again. But… umm… don’t you have a genocide to prevent?”

“Yes Thor, we need to go stop Loki now,” Sif agreed, limping up behind them. “Right now.”

Thor barely glanced at her before returning his attention to Kurt, not wanting to leave the small mortal or his father or their house in the woods. But when Kurt smiled at him, he nodded reluctantly.

“You all arrived at the field, right?” asked Kurt, looking at Sif with his “Bitch, please” glare. He knew what she was doing, she was reminding them both that Thor was a god and Kurt was a human and that she was a god(dess) too. When Fandral nodded behind her, Kurt continued: “Then I can presume that it is some kind of landing and pick-up sight for Bifrost and I’ll see you off.”

The walk to the field was spent in silence, Kurt and Thor covertly glancing at each other, Sif trying to get between them, Fandral silently laughing at their behavior and Hogun and Volstagg shaking their heads at their female friend.

“Do you want to see it?” asked Thor finally when they arrived to the destroyed field, ignoring the rather confused S.H.I.E.L.D. agents running around them.

Kurt looked speculatively at the sky where the sun was quickly climbing to it’s peak. “Yeah, I think I’d like to see it. I want to know what it would look like should I ever want to build my own hop-between-realms-machine,” said Kurt, trying to sound nonchalant but failing as his voice cracked at the end. He’d known this would come, though since last night he’d imagined it’d be in thirty years from now rather than fifteen hours later.

Thor was unsure of what to do. If it was anyone else, he’d just slap them on the back with a grin and tell them not to worry. But Kurt had quickly become to mean so much more to him than just a friend, hence the problem. “I… I’ll come back,” he said hesitantly. But I cannot promise when. Wars are… time consuming… And time flows differently in Asgard and here.”

“Yeah, one year on Earth equals about three years in Asgard,” Kurt smiled weakly, realizing what Thor was doing. He was promising to come back, hopefully while Kurt was still alive. “Anyway you’ve got longer to miss me. I’m not going to complain, knowing it’d been three times as long to you. Hopefully I just won’t be too old by the time you get back.”

“Old?” scoffed Thor loudly. “I don’t think so… Kurt, thank you for making something that could have been a bad experience something I’ve enjoyed more than I ever believed possible.”

A smile stretched across Kurt’s face. “No problem big guy. I enjoyed showing you Earth’s good sides, even if you still learned some about the bad too. Next time you visit, I promise to have those tunics made for you.”

“I’ll keep you to that,” said Thor with an answering smile.

He turned to leave but a small, nearly inaudible sniffle from Kurt had him turning and hugging the teenager. Before he knew for certain what he was doing, he’d smashed their lips together, cradling Kurt’s head in his large hands, Kurt’s arms around his neck, fingers clutching his hair, kissing back almost desperately. Both had their eyes closed, losing themselves tin each other.

Finally oxygen became a problem and they drew back, slowly opening their eyes, huffing for breath. Kurt had tears trickling down his smiling face, knees weak. He broke the eye contact and burrowed his face to Thor’s neck, breathing in his sent, trying to memorize it.

“I’ll come back as soon as I can,” whispered Thor, pressing kisses to Kurt’s hair. “I promise.”

“I know,” whispered Kurt back before letting go. He stepped back and wiped his tears, smile never wavering. “I’ll be waiting.”

“No, you won’t,” Thor shook his head. “I want you to live. If you do get the chance, get a boyfriend. Go to New York and become an actor. Go to… Broadway, was it?”

Kurt nodded. “Sir, yes sir!” he joked.

Thor walked over to his friends on the scorch mark in the ground, looking at Kurt over his shoulder. “Heimdal, bring us home,” he called to the sky, eyes returning to Kurt.

Nothing happened and the Asgardians looked around in confusion.

“Heimdal? We need you,” Thor called again. Kurt was thoroughly reminded of Star Trek with the protagonists calling back to the ship to be beamed up and with the ship, be it USS Enterprise or USS Voyager, and the beaming technology malfunctioning again. “Heimdal? Can you-?”

His sentence was cut off by the white lights of the Bifrost and Kurt watched fivesome disappear. Kurt stood there for a while, just looking at the spot where they had stood just minutes before.

It was over. The strange man who had landed in his back yard in a tornado was gone. The man who had been his first kiss, was gone. Kurt didn’t know whether to laugh or cry so he settled for doing neither.

“Mr. Hummel,” agent Coulson’s voice said behind him. “We at S.H.I.E.L.D. would like to offer you a job. We’ve seen some of the inventions you have. We are very impressed and would like to offer you a possibility to use your considerable talents for the good of the planet.”

Kurt turned to look at him. “I’m a sophomore in high school.”

“We know,” assured Coulson. “It would be on a freelance basis but you would have to get some field training in the summers. You invent something, you show us. If we like it, we’ll buy the rights to it at negotiable sum of money.”

“I’m a minor.”

“We’re already negotiating with your father.”

“I want dibs on every mission involving someone from Asgard.”

“That is negotiable.”

“I…” Kurt glanced to the sky. “I accept."


End file.
